Aimee Semple McPherson

Aimee Semple McPherson

7 Sermons
Aimee Semple McPherson (1890–1944). Born Aimee Elizabeth Kennedy on October 9, 1890, in Salford, Ontario, Canada, to James and Mildred Kennedy, Aimee Semple McPherson was a pioneering Pentecostal evangelist and founder of the Foursquare Church. Raised in a Salvation Army family, she converted at 17 during a revival led by Robert Semple, whom she married in 1908, adopting Pentecostalism. After Robert’s death in China in 1910, she returned to North America, marrying Harold McPherson in 1912. Preaching across the U.S. in tent revivals, her dynamic sermons and reported healings drew thousands, blending faith with theatrical flair. In 1923, she opened Angelus Temple in Los Angeles, seating 5,300, where she pastored and broadcast services on KFSG radio, founding the Foursquare Church in 1927, now with millions globally. Her 1926 kidnapping controversy—alleged by some to be an affair—sparked media frenzy, but she was acquitted. McPherson authored books like This Is That (1919) and In the Service of the King (1927), promoting her “Foursquare Gospel.” Divorced in 1921 and briefly married to David Hutton (1931–1934), she had two children, Roberta and Rolf. She died on September 27, 1944, in Oakland, California, from an accidental barbiturate overdose, saying, “I am not a healer; Jesus is the healer.”
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